Alignment
The align command is used to adjust the position of objects or text in relation to each other. The various ways objects or text can be aligned are typically left, right, center, top and bottom.
Anti-alias
Softening of the jagged edges in images that have become aliased.
Art Director
The person responsible for managing the creative and production process for a given project as well as the people working on the project.
bevel
Bevel is a function in graphic design software that, when applied to an image, gives the image the appearance of being raised out of the surface. A common example is buttons on websites. The appearance of the bevel is created by the application of lighter and darker colors to the image.
bitmap (BMP)
Bitmap images are resolution dependent, unlike vector graphics which are resolution independent. A bitmap does not need to contain a bit of color-coded information for each pixel on every row. It only needs to contain information indicating a new color as the display scans along a row. This means that an image with much solid color will tend to require a small bitmap.
bleeding
When an image or printed color extends beyond the trimmed edge of a page, it is called a "bleed". Bleeding ensures that the print extends to the edges of the paper. The paper is usually trimmed to the desired size after printing.
canvas size
The full area of an image.
cast shadow
Similar to a drop shadow but with added perspective to create the illusion of a third dimension.
clipping path
A function that allows a shape to mask part of an image. The masked part of the image can be edited but won't let you work past the borders of the clipping path.
cloning pixels
A function in image editing software that can copy a part of the image and place it elsewhere. It can be used to remove blemishes on a models skin, text on a scanned image etc.
CMYK
CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black, the four process color inks.
color correction
Correction to a color cast created by the scanner on the scanned image. The preview image on the computer display is adjusted. Color correction is usually done in CMYK.
Color palette
A set of colors that make up an image or animation. It is also the set of colors available to be applied to images.
composite image
A composite image is a graphic image (or photograph), made up of a combination of images.
compound path
Illustration software enables users to create compound paths from two or more paths. A compound path is an image with a see-through hole in the middle. An example of a compound path is the shape of the letter "A". If you put an "A" or any image with a compound path onto a colored background, the background color shows through.
DPI (dots per inch)
DPI is the number of dots (or pixels - PPI) that fit horizontally and vertically into a one-inch measure. The more dots per inch, the more detail is captured and the sharper the image.
duotone
Duotones are made by printing an image with two colors, usually black and a second color. The resulting image has more depth than it would have had with only a monotone color (mostly black ink on white paper).
emboss
Embossing an image, gives it a three dimensional (3-D) quality. The 3-D effect is created with highlights and shadows on the edges of the image.
filter
A filter is applied to images or art works to easily create special effects or to achieve a look that would be too difficult to create manually.
font
A font is a complete set of characters in a particular style and typically consists of a full letter set, number set and all other special characters you get by pressing the shift, control or option keys. Examples of fonts include "Arial", "Courier New" etc.
four-color process
The printing process that reproduces colors by combining, cyan, magenta, yellow and black. If you look through a magnifying glass, you'll see that the printed image consists of dots in these four colors. These dots are printed on top of each other, next to each other or just close to each other, depending on the color and tonal values wanted. For example; by printing a blue dot over a yellow dot will give you green etc. To created the shadows in the image, all the colors (with or without black - depending on the intensity of the shadow) will be printed on top of each other to create a dark brownish color. The closer the colored dots are printed to each other, the darker it will appear. The further apart the colored dots are printed from each other, the lighter that part of the image will appear.
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
GIF images display up to 256 colors. GIF images generally have very small file sizes and are the most widely used graphic format on the web. The low quality resulting from compression makes them unsuitable for professional printing.
gradient
A function in graphic software that allows the user to fill an object/image with a smooth transition of colors, for example a dark blue, gradually becoming lighter or red, gradually becoming orange, then yellow.
hexadecimal
Hexadecimal describes a numbering system containing 16 sequential numbers as base units. These numbers are used to color web pages for example, red is #FF0000.
high-resolution image
An image with a high level of sharpness/clarity.
JPEG (Joint Photographic Electronic Group)
A common compression method that shrinks a file's storage size by discarding non-important picture detail. Excessive jpeg compression can cause poor image quality.
Kerning
Adjusting the lateral (horizontal) space between letters.
line weight
Line weight is a term referring to the thickness of a printing line. Sometimes shapes are drawn with a line weight of zero and then the fill color is used to define the shape.
low-resolution image
A low-resolution image is a low-detail scan made from, for example a photograph.
LZW (Lemple-Zif-Welch)
A useful compression technique that compress images that contain large areas of single color, for example screenshots. This technique is supported by TIFF, GIF and PDF.
margins
Guidelines in page layout software to show the user the body copy areas. It also allows the user to specify the dimensions. Margins/guidelines do not print.
monitor RGB
The working space that reflects the current color profile of a monitor.
non-printing guides
Non-printing guides are alignment aids (rulers or margin guides) found within page layout software.
opacity
The density of a color or tonal value. The opacity of an image or object can range from transparent (0% opacity) to opaque (100% opacity). The ability to edit the opacity of individual objects allows the designer to create images that seem to flow into and through one another.
Pantone matching system
The Pantone matching system is used for specifying and blending match colors. It provides designers with swatches of over 700 colors and gives printers the recipes for making those colors.
PNG
Portable Network Graphics format. PNG (usually pronounced "ping"), is used for lossless compression. The PNG format displays images without jagged edges while keeping file sizes relatively small, making them popular on the web. PNG files are however generally larger than GIF files.
PPI
Pixels Per Inch. A measurement of the resolution of a scanned image.
primary colors
The primary colors are combined to produce the full range of other colors (non-primary colors), within a color model. The primary colors for the additive color model is; Red, Green and Blue. The primary colors for the subtractive color model is; Cyan, Magenta and Yellow.
rasterize
An image is said to be rasterized when converted from vector image to a bitmapped image. When opening a vector image in a bitmap-based editing program, you are usually presented with a dialog box of options for rasterizing the image.
resolution
The resolution of an image is an important factor in determining the attainable output quality. The higher the resolution of an image, the less pixilated it will be and the curves of the image will appear smoother.
RGB (Red, Green, Blue)
RGB is the model used to project color on a computer monitor. By mixing these three colors, a large percentage of the visible color spectrum can be represented.
royalty-free photos or images
Intellectual property like photos and graphic images that are sold for a single standard fee. These can be used repeatedly by the purchaser only, but the company that sold the images usually still owns all the rights to it.
saturation
Saturation is the color intensity of an image. A color with high saturation will appear brighter and more vibrant than the same color with low saturation. Colors in grayscale images have no saturations (white, grays and black).
shadow detail
Shadow detail refers to the amount of detail contained in the dark areas of an image. If the shadow is lightened too much in an attempt to expose more detail, the risk is there to decrease the overall contrast of the image.
subtractive color
A term describing the three subtractive primary colors; Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. As opposed to the three additive colors; Red, Blue and Green.
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)
A common graphic file format used for saving bitmapped images such as scans, photographs, illustrations and logos.
unsharp masking
A very sophisticated sharpening method that sharpens images without the graininess that appears with most other sharpening methods.
v
ector graphic
Vector graphics are drawn in paths. This allows the designer to resize images freely without getting pixilated edges as is the case with bitmapped images. The vector format is generally used for in printing while thebitmap format is used for onscreen display.
white point
The white point, on a monitor, is the combination of RGB at full intensity. |
